Soccer Headline

Sunday September 26, 2004Auburn Defeats No. 7 Florida Soccer 1-0

The No. 7 University of Florida soccer team (7-2-1, 1-1 SEC) gave up only one shot, but it was all the Auburn Tigers (7-2, 2-0 SEC) needed as they took the 1-0 win Sunday in front of an Auburn University Soccer Complex crowd of 957.

Auburn got on the board at 46:41 when Jenn Walters made good on her second penalty kick of the season. The penalty kick, the first against the Gators this season, was awarded when AU’s Chrissy Culver was fouled in the box. The goal was the first scored against Jen Gardner in her four appearances in goal for the Gators.

Florida’s best chance to score in the opening half came 21st minute when Cherry Pickman’s 25-yard shot hit the cross bar. Florida outshot the Tigers 8-1, but UF couldn’t find the back of the net. Another good look at the goal came from freshman KeLeigh Hudson, who took a one-timer shot from 12 yards in the 70th minute, but it just sailed wide of the post. Ashley Kellgren also had a chance to tie the match in the 89th minute, but her shot from the top of the box was just wide.

"It was frustrating. Their only shot on goal was the penalty kick. It was a mistake on our part. We let the ball bounce in the box. When you let the ball bounce in the box, bad things are going to happen and we gave up a penalty kick because of it," UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. "Even if we didn’t give up that penalty kick, we still weren’t able to score. I think we are really missing our wide midfielders (two Gators did not make the trip due to injuries - Christine Johnson and Rie Sawai). Even our shots weren’t that dangerous because they were from pretty far out. We are going to have these injuries for a little while longer so we need to deal with it."

Auburn goalkeeper Megan Rivera set the Southeastern Conference record for career shutouts with her 30th shutout. She turned in four saves Sunday.

Florida returns home to play host to No. 21 Tennessee on Friday, Oct. 1. Match time is set for 7:30 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium and admission is free. The UF-UT match will be carried live on Sunshine. The UF-Tennessee match can also be heard live on-line at